The COP30 summit, which concluded on 21st November in Brazil, saw the launch of a project from Oxford University’s Technology and Industrialisation for Development (TIDE) Centre. The Nature’s Intelligence Studio aims to observe and imitate natural principles in biological systems to advance renewable energy goals, environmental monitoring, and sustainable mobility.
This process of imitating nature is known as biomimicry, which is an innovative branch of science, drawing from nature’s ways of creating natural solutions for problems such as energy efficiency, material strength, and climate adaptability. The goal is to study natural processes and structures to create new technologies, without involving living organisms – instead studying the mechanisms they use. The development of some wind turbine blades to mimic the shape of humpback whale flippers due to their natural aerodynamic form is an example of biomimicry.
The creation of the studio has been supported by an investment of around £1 million from Oxford University, philanthropic foundations, and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF). Initially, the Nature’s Intelligence Studio will operate between Oxford and Belém, Brazil, with plans for future expansion to other regions.
The Nature’s Intelligence Studio sets out to treat the planet’s biodiversity not just as a conservation priority but as a source of innovation. TIDE Director Amir Lebdioui said: “the developing world holds most of the planet’s biodiversity, which is a vast library of biological intelligence built over 3.4 billion years of evolution.”
Lebdioui further told Cherwell that the project “will incentivise students and faculty to join a community interesting [sic] in bio-inspired innovation. Students are more than welcome to reach out in case they want to contribute”.
The Studio aims to launch three initial programmes. The first of these is an ‘energy atlas’ of nature’s innovations, to be developed in collaboration with the startup Asteria. This platform will use AI to analyse over 4 million scientific articles to map biological solutions to industrial energy challenges.
The Studio is also planning an ‘ideathon’: in partnership with CAF, they will aim to identify promising innovations from the global south, focusing on biologically inspired prototypes in real-world field conditions. Finally, Studio aims to share these benefits, recognising that many biological insights originate from indigenous and local communities. The Studio plans to ensure these communities share in the value created. This approach fosters new economic and scientific opportunities amongst indigenous groups.
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